to the hotels that flanked the narrow neck of the Avenida than to the
Royalist forces. On the other hand, it would have been comparatively
easy for the Royalists, with a little resolution, to have crept up the
Avenida under cover of the trees, and driven the insurgents from their
position. Fortunately for the revolt, there was a total lack of
leadership on the Royalist side, excusable only on the ground that the
officers could not rely on their men.

While things were at a deadlock on the Avenida, critical events were
happening on the Tagus. On all three ships, the officers knew that the
men were only awaiting a signal to mutiny; but the signal did not come.
At this juncture, and while it seemed that the Republican cause was
lost, a piece of heroic bluff on the part of a single officer saved the
situation. Lieutenant Tito de Moraes put off in a small boat from the
naval barracks at Alcantara, rowed to the _San Raphael_, boarded it,
and calmly took possession of it in the name of the Republic! He gave
the officers a written guaranty that they had yielded to superior
force, and then sent them off under arrest to the naval barracks. He
now asked for orders from the Revolutionary Committee; and early in the
afternoon the _San Raphael_ weighed anchor and moved down the river in
the direction of the Necessidades Palace. In doing so she had to pass
the most powerful ship of the squadron, the _Dom Carlos_: would she get
past in safety? Yes; the _Dom Carlos_ made no sign. The officers were
almost all Royalists, but they knew they could do nothing with the
crew. As a matter of fact when the crew ultimately mutinied, the
captain and a lieutenant were severely wounded; but I can find no
evidence for the picturesque legend of a group of officers making a
last heroic stand on the quarter-deck, and ruthlessly mowed down by the
insurgents' fire. It is certain, at any rate, that no lives were lost.